Craft room {in my closet} home tour

I am so excited to be taking part in The Country Chic Cottage craft room tour today!  I don't have a conventional craft room, but instead, you can find my craft/sewing room tucked away at the back of my closet. Hopefully, it will leave you thinking outside of the box if you are looking for an area that is all your own.

My husband actually built this area for me, installing can lights, extra outlets and a desk with three shelves. I just have to show you what the area looked like before. What a mess! 

This is a huge improvement on my old closet space don't you think!

I bought the little vintage stool at a garage sale. It's surprisingly comfortable and provides the perfect blend of seating and storage. The top of the stool opens and has thread storage and a large inside area where I put my yards of burlap. 

Let's take a look around to see the rest!

I love using old Ball jars to hold buttons, tiles and elastic. It not only organizes all of the items that I need, it also makes it really easy to see when I need something.

I started sewing in home ec. class when I was in sixth grade. I loved it! I made so many hair scrunchies in the 80's you wouldn't even believe me if I told you! I took as many sewing classes as I could until I graduated high school, making dresses, sweatshirts, pillows, you name it. The best part was being able to use the serger in class. I didn't have one at home, and I loved how it would finish items. So when I saw this Toyota brand one for $50 at a garage sale about ten years ago, I bought it! I don't use it very often, but I love having it for those times when I do need one.

Speaking of sewing, my Janome sewing machine {that I love!} is parked right next to the serger on a huge cutting mat. I can easily remove both machines, and have a nice flat surface to cut fabric or measure on.

I found this vintage drawer at a garage sale and have it filled with spools of thread and ribbon at the ready.

 My love of vintage runs deep, and I have these two vintage pin cushions that I use.

I recently showed you how I took a vintage frame and created this "be still" chalk art. I also have a few other framed pictures that I love sitting next to it.

Years ago, for Christmas, I asked for comic book boards. It's a great way to organize your fabric and see what you have at an easy glace.

I bought these white baskets at Wal-Mart years ago. I have a smaller version on top of the shelf. They hold craft supplies like paper crafting, glues and jewelry making supplies. On the bottom shelf they hold fabric and sewing supplies.

I know it's a dream for so many crafters to have a designated space that is all their own. I love my secluded space!  Go check out the other craft room tours at the Country Chic Cottage. I promise you might just drool a little!

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The one thing stay at home moms should be doing every single day

It's been said that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in something. If we go by that idea, then after 16 years of being a stay at home mom, I think I'm going to don that expert title and roll with it.

Just last year, besides my blog {that I work on from home}, I started working outside of the home on a very part time basis as a substitute teacher. I have learned a few things, but one of those things I think is the one thing that stay at home moms should be doing every single day.

It wasn't that long ago that I had a houseful of very cute but very mischievous little people. I remember when this picture was taken. Our youngest, who was a toddler, was very interested in the gingerbread house that his sister had made. We had it sitting on display in our entry and the little guy took the chance to sneak away and pull the tray with the gingerbread house down so that he could have a little snack.

He's shoving his mouth full of gingerbread house candy oblivious to the fact that his sister is heartbroken on the floor looking at the damages of her hard work and beautiful creation.

I know very well what the days look like when you stay at home with your children, and now I can compare it with those of the working parent. Here is the one thing that I take away with me from my job that I wasn't doing before. It may just be life changing for you stay at home moms.

As a stay at home mom I was busy all of the time. The kids kept me on my toes, they needed messes cleaned up, food made for them, the house needed attention, more food needed made, kids needed napped, diapers needed changed, the list goes on.  I thought that I had my kids on a good schedule but what I didn't realize is that their schedule had me.

While the kids napped, I would fold laundry or clean the kitchen or tackle a project. If the kids were awake, I was tending to them. I wasn't taking time out just for me during the day.

Now that my kids are in school and the house is relatively calm during the day, I realized that my bad habits of trying to fit in everything that I could during those quite times has just been extended by about five hours and I have a larger chunk of the day to work, but typically that doesn't mean focusing on me. Or taking a break for me. It means housework, blogging, laundry, prepping dinner because our evenings are so busy.  So you want to know what the one thing is that I have taken away from working and what I think stay at home moms should be doing every single day?

Ready for it? It's earth shattering. You should be taking a lunch break. When I work, I get a half an hour lunch break. It's glorious. I eat my lunch usually in silence and enjoy flipping through a magazine or scrolling mindlessly through social media. 

My husband has always had this hour long lunch break that he has taken. He tells me that it's his favorite time of the day. He eats his lunch at his desk, logs into Netflix and watches his stories. During my day, I rarely do anything that doesn't involve shoving in as much work as I can and being as productive as I can before I go pick up kids from school. 

When I work, I can totally see why my husband loves his lunch break. Who knew? So I'm telling you moms, stop trying to fit it all in. Give yourself a little grace and take a little time to enjoy a lunch break.  Take it from me. I'm an expert. 

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Talk of the Town Link party #4

Welcome back to Talk of the Town!

Take a look at what you may have missed from your party hosts!

20+ Farmhouse Style Valentine Projects

Repurposed Picnic Basket Lid

Cozy Dog Bed

LOVE sign

Bacon and Egg Quiche

Schoolhouse Update

Thrift Shopping Finds

DIY Woven Seat using Drop Cloth Strips

Scrabble Tiles Valentine Décor

Lazy Cleaning Tricks for a Spotless Home

Vintage book cover turned into a leather passport cover

What Not to Google

Decorate with White Wicker Furniture

Wooden Pendants from Vintage Tennis Rackets

Winter Décor Project Ideas

Here's what your hosts are talking about from last week's party!

Wooden Jewelry Box Upcycle from The Interior Frugalista

Bathroom Makeover Reveal from Vintage Refined

Pallet Wood Valentine Heart from Scavenger Chic

Easy Image Transfer Tray by Design Dreams by Anne

Faux Ship Lap Planked Wall by Reinvented

Plaid Pillow Covers by Happy at Home

Vintage Scale Sign Hook from Denise on a Whim

Each week we are featuring a blogger and their blog to introduce you to the different bloggers that link up with us each week! Make sure to pay them a visit, and say hello while you’re there!

This week, our featured blogger is Mindi from My Love 2 Create

Mindi is a mom of six, and she shares tutorials dedicated to helping you create thrifty, repurposed, DIY and craft projects for your home.

Reclaimed Wood Media Console | Laminate Bookshelf into Storage Bench

Cabinet Doors into Children’s Desk | Old Drawers into Porch Planters

Now, it's YOUR turn...

By linking up at Talk of the Town, you agree that your photos may be shared on social media to promote the party or featured in a round-up by the blog hosts.

A link back to your party hosts is always appreciated!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Horn turned into a necklace creating wearable art

Last August I went on one of the most amazing trips ever. I spent a few days after a visit in Uganda in the Masai Mara wildlife reserve in Kenya. I had always dreamed of going on safari before, but didn't know that it would be something that I would ever be able to do. You can read more about my experience on safari here and here.

While we were at one of the local safari camps, I acquired an Impala horn. It was found in the dried scat of an animal and looks to be that of a small Impala that was a yummy dinner for one of the bigger animals in the Mara. However, it's pretty darn small, so I'm now second guessing if it's an Impala or a Topi.  Whatevs, it doesn't really matter. It's awesome.

I brought it home, not sure what I would do with it, but just this past weekend, I decided to try making a necklace out of it and the end result is fantastic! I love it! And I love that it reminds me of a such a special place in this world.

This is the horn. It's only about two and a half inches long. It has the most amazing color and the starts of those tell tell coils that the Impala horns get as the animal ages.

Not quite sure what an Impala looks like? These are a few grazing in the field.

I used a wire twist tie to create a loop. I looked for ideas on how to connect the horn to a chain but when I started looking at jewelry findings the best thing I found was a heavy twist tie that had held together some wire that I had bought. I added a small ring to the loop. I connected the ring through the center loop on the long chain that I had bought at Hobby Lobby and then used Gorilla Glue to secure the loop to the inside of the horn. In the picture it shows that I'm using Martha Stewart jewelry glue. I intended to until I found out that the glue had dried up. In the end, I think that Gorilla Glue worked better.

My daughter is already trying to steal it from me to wear to school so I consider that a fashion win.

I love how this project turned out. I was able to take such a special treasure and make wearable art from it.  How cool is that?!

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